Almond Vanilla Bean Easter Nest Cupcakes

Let’s be honest here……..is there anything more exciting than the sight of cupcakes????

Well, okay maybe there are just one or two things in life that hold a bit more weight and therefore top cupcakes if we’re being serious. However, at the moment nothing is coming to mind. Cupcakes = Happiness ?

I’m sorry, I just can’t get over how surprised I was to find that something as simple as baking cupcakes could be enough to brighten a bad day. Due to traveling and being sick recently I haven’t made them in months, (that’s like forever in cupcake years!) I know, I’m obsessed with baking, you don’t even have to tell me. Hey, but it’s like what I’ve said countless times before, “Baking is cheaper than therapy.”

Anyway, these cupcakes are very basic and simple, but don’t mistake that as meaning plain and boring because they’re anything but. I used my all-time favorite vanilla cake recipe and adapted it into these almond cupcakes for a fun Easter themed recipe. I topped them with Jordan almonds and some chocolate sprinkles for an instant “nest” topper. Truthfully it’s one of the laziest ways ever to top a cupcake. but I thought they were pretty cute regardless. You could use robin egg candies or chocolate Cadbury eggs too, but sadly I didn’t have the option.

Yeah, I was looking for the perfect egg shaped candies to use as toppers for these but I couldn’t find the kind I was looking for because, as I was saying last week when I shared those malt brownies, it can be difficult to find certain things here in Chile. Actually, the funniest thing happened a few days ago while we were at the mall that is a perfect example to prove my point. We were at a frozen yogurt shop and my mom got so excited when she realized they had malted milk balls in their topping options. She asked the employee who was working there if she knew where we could find them and the employee smiled encouragingly in reply and said (in Spanish) “Yeah of course, the United States.” Haha, it was totally one of those wah-wah-wah moments.

We’ve decided that the next time we make a trip to the States we’ll be coming back with suitcases packed full of every single candy that doesn’t get imported down here. Oh, and I’m already making a list of miscellaneous kitchen items that I need to look for when that happens also.

Oh, and I just remembered one more funny thing to mention while I’m talking about a future trip. My little cousin that I haven’t seen in far too long has already made me promise to make him some homemade Twinkies for his birthday. He said he thinks I can make them way better than the real ones and I’m so flattered that he thinks I’m some kind of amazing chef. Hopefully I can pull them off and not disappoint his hopes and dreams, even though his opinion of my skills is way over-exaggerated.

Alright, but back to the cupcakes, I really hope you decide to try them because they are some of my new favorites. If you’ve followed for a while you might even remember me admitting that when given the option I’d probably go for vanilla over chocolate 9 times out of 10. I mean chocolate definitely has its place in my heart, but I’ve got a thing for vanilla. What about you? Are you chocolate or vanilla? Oh and let me know if you try these because I’d love to hear what you think and if you share it on your socials be sure to tag it #gringalicious

A recipe for perfectly soft and fluffy white cupcakes with complementing frosting, both infused with a hint of delicious almond extract. The cupcakes are topped with egg-shaped candies and sprinkles to look like nests!

Ingredients

Cupcakes:

3 egg whites

2/3 cup milk

1/3 cup oil

1/3 cup (about 6 tablespoons) butter

1 1/4 cup sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

3/4 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 teaspoon almond extract

2 cups flour

Frosting:

5 cups powdered sugar

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter, room temp

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 teaspoon almond extract

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons milk

Optional Toppings:

Chocolate sprinkles

Jordan almonds

Instructions

Cupcakes:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 C) and grease a 12-count cupcake pan with oil or line with cupcake liners. Pour egg whites into bowl of stand mixer and beat until they form stiff peaks (it should take about 5 minutes). In separate bowl, cream butter and sugar. Add all other ingredients and mix until smooth.

Now gently fold in the stiff egg whites into the batter just until evenly combined. Divide batter into the cupcake slots as evenly as possible. Bake for 22 - 28 minutes until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean and edges are lightly golden. Remove the cupcakes from oven and cool completely before frosting.

For Frosting:

Beat butter in a large mixing bowl until creamed. Add vanilla and almond extract, salt, and powdered sugar one cup at a time. Add milk beat until light and fluffy. You may need to add more milk as needed for frosting consistency to be light and fluffy.

Assemble:

Fit a piping bag with a large round or star tip and fill with the frosting. Pipe frosting as desired onto cupcakes and decorate with chocolate sprinkles and Jordan almonds as desired.

[…] find a use for. That was it, cake truffles just made sense and they were a big hit. I used a simple cake recipe that I actually just shared last week. Honestly these are so easy and I just loved the texture […]